Everybody knows The Eagles’ 1972 hit song, “Take It Easy,” it’s an absolute classic.
I mean, who doesn’t want a chance to stand on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, after blasting the song on a long drive with the windows down? Bucket list stuff right there.
Of course, we all know ’90s country superstar Travis Tritt as well.
The Eagles and Tritt teamed up on a remake of the song for the band’s 1993 tribute album, Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles. In the music video for the song, you can see him and the boys from The Eagles kicking it at a bar, and shootin’ the shit at a pool table like they’ve been best friends their whole lives.
However, what if I told you some members of The Eagles lowkey hated each other going into the filming of the video?
That’s right, by 1993, The Eagles were long broken up, deep in a nasty feud that lasted over 13 years.
According to Ultimate Classic Rock Radio, the band was coming off of a brutally long recording process of their 1979 album, The Long Run (how ironic), and members were starting to get fed up with each other. The main feud occurred between guitarist Don Felder and Glenn Frey, and shit hit the fan at a benefit concert for California Senator Alan Cranston in 1980.
According to Frey, before the show, Felder appeared to insult the Senator while he met up with the band. Cranston thanked the band members, and Felder responded:
“You’re welcome Senator… I guess.”
Frey was upset with Felder’s response, and confronted him before the show:
“I felt Don Felder insulted Senator Cranston under his breath, and I confronted him with hit. So now we’re onstage, and Felder looks back at me and says, ‘Only three more songs till I kick your ass, pal.’ And I’m saying, ‘Great, I can’t wait.’”
“We’re out there singing ‘Best of My Love,’ but inside both of us are thinking, ‘As soon as this is over, I’m gonna kill him.’ That was when I knew I had to get out.”
That was the last time The Eagles met again until the knight in shining armor brought them back together.
Travis Tritt was a longtime fan of the song “Take It Easy,” and recorded the song for the album Common Thread, an Eagles tribute album. According to Rolling Stone, Tritt pleaded for the guys to get back together for the music video, and to his own surprise, they agreed.
In the 2013 History of the Eagles documentary, Frey recalled the reunion very well:
“After years passed, you really sort of remember that you were friends first.”
“You have a lot of common history together and a lot of shared experiences. I remembered mostly the good stuff… I just remembered how much we genuinely had liked each other and how much fun we’d had.”
The guys made amends after the video, and became The Eagles once again, reuniting the following year. The group recorded Hell Freezes Over, which went on to be a smashing success. Of course now, after the death of Glenn Frey, his son Deacon, as well as Vince Gill, have joined the band and they still perform today.
So a huge shoutout to Mr. Travis Tritt himself.
Who knew that a long-haired country boy from Georgia would be the one to reunite one of the greatest rock bands on the planet.